What You Need to Know About the EgyptAir Plane Crash Last Night

“No theory can be ruled out.”

The latest news of an EgyptAir plane that disappeared from radar this morning is that it crashed into the Mediterranean, the Associated Press reports. Flight MS804, an Airbus A320, was scheduled to arrive in Cairo today after departing from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris last night. In a press conference, French President Francois Hollande confirmed the crash and that the plane was lost.

The plane vanished while cruising, which is the safest part of the journey, [CNN reports] (http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/18/middleeast/egyptair-flight-disappears/). Panos Kammenos, Greek defense minister, said the plane "swerved and then plunged" before falling into the Mediterranean Sea. And now, according to The Guardian, debris has been found after a Royal Air Force ship was ordered to aid in the search operations. “There have been finds southeast of Crete, inside the Cairo flight information area,” Greek army general staff spokesman Vassilis Beletsiotis said.

In what was thought to be the last broadcast from the aircraft, Greek air traffic controllers spoke with the pilot as the plane passed through Greek airspace. Kostas Litzerakis, the head of Greece's civil aviation department, told [Reuters] (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-egyptair-airplane-idUSKCN0YA08W) the pilot didn’t mention any problems. But, during the transfer into Egyptian airspace, all contact was lost and the plane vanished.

Jean-Marc Ayrault, France’s foreign minister, said in a phone call that France stands with Egypt “in this terrible ordeal,” and that a crisis cell has been set up at the French embassy in Cairo. France's Prime Minister Manuel Valls told RTL radio that "no theory can be ruled out" in investigating the flight’s disappearance. Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail expressed the same sentiment, saying to reporters at Cairo's airport that it’s “too early” to exclude the possibility of a terrorist attack.

According to an airline official, routine maintenance checks on the plane were done Wednesday in Cairo before it took off for Paris. CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri says conditions were clear and calm over the Mediterranean Sea, where the plane is believed to have gone missing. Nonetheless, EgyptAir posted on Twitter that it is not yet known exactly what happened.

While the cause for the disappearance remains unknown, the fact that both France and Egypt have been targets of Islamist extremists causes greater fear of whether or not the incident was an act of terror. In October 2015, ISIS claimed responsibility, although without proof, for the bombing of a Russian plane brought down over Egypt, killing 224. The following month, [ISIS terrorized six sites across Paris] (http://www.teenvogue.com/story/paris-gun-attacks-explosions-hostages) killing 130.

Search operations for Flight MS804 are ongoing at this time. In the meantime, distressed family members await more news at Cairo International Airport. In Paris, relatives of passengers who were on board the disappeared plane [have been offered seats] (https://twitter.com/sommervillebbc/status/733232944853159936) on EgyptAir planes this afternoon.